Koei UK dates Samurai Warriors 2 for PC

Publisher flexes UK muscles with PC releases for Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI and Samurai Warriors 2.

It's all go for Koei's UK arm, which has announced UK launch dates for PC versions of both Samurai Warriors 2, in shops on June 27, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI, due July 25--four days ahead of its US release. There is currently no planned US release for the PC version of Samurai Warriors 2.

It wasn't always this way. Previous iterations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms--one of the longest-running historical simulations, dating back to the late 1980s--had been released on the PC only in Japan and the US.

"We're constantly striving to bring our games to as wide an audience as possible, and our move into the PC arena is a very important step for Koei in Europe," said sales manager Will Curley.

This move follows the appointment of Naoki Katashima to executive vice president of Koei UK, Koei France, and Koei North America in February of this year. This created a direct link to Koei's Japanese headquarters, where a division was set up to focus specifically on Western markets.

A PC version of Warriors Orochi was released to UK gamers last month, and now that trend is set to continue with Samurai Warriors 2 and Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI.

Originally launched on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, Samurai Warriors 2 received two expansion packs in the form of Empires and Xtreme Legends. However, Koei UK's PR and marketing manager, Mikey Foley, confirmed to GameSpot that the expansion packs wouldn't be a part of the initial PC offering, saying it might complicate things for gamers new to the franchise. Whether that means expansions will follow in due course has yet to be established, with Mikey saying Koei would "see how it goes."

Koei says that Samurai Warriors 2 introduces to the series the ability to charge three consecutive Musou gauges for more powerful attacks, more variety to the appearance, animation, and attacks of the hordes of enemies, and the ability to level up during play.

Meanwhile, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI is being produced by Kou Shibusawa, an alias for Koei's cofounder Yoichi Erikawa, and is part of a historical simulation series that dates back to the late '80s, having in the past graced formats as diverse as the Amiga and MSX.

klinsi;
Apparently there are console game developers out there who think that the game market is so segmented that they can simply "port" a game to PC gamers and we would get all warm and fuzzy about the release to PC. They have no clue that most PC players also play console games - but it's the console players who usually aren't familiar with PC games. So when it doesn't fly, they make the excuse that PC gamers aren't interested in certain games or certain genres, which isn't true. PC gamers are interested in good games that work and if your going to add your game which was already produced previously to the console then you better add something special to it. Don't release the same crap with the nasty graphics on the PC. Re-render it for higher resolutions and tweak that thing to look good on the PC - or don't even bother.
I'm seeing a lot of Japanese developers who were strictly console starting to port their games to the PC. We don't want ports - we want games made expressly for PC. They are doing this because they are finding it hard to compete with Western / European developers who are even killing them on their own soil now. They should have considered this a long time before it got to emergency stage - now they don't even know how to please the PC game genre and it's going to be a rough road unless they start learning quickly.

Very WONDER how a superb franchise game like DW, SW, en RoTK came out from the company who apparently hire TOO MANY KINDERGARTEN KID to do the MARKETING campaign for their game...
I can believe this game HAD BEEN OUT in console for SO LONG TIME yet the PC version comes out so LATE !
Quote :
"However, Koei UK's PR and marketing manager, Mikey Foley, confirmed to GameSpot that the expansion packs wouldn't be a part of the initial PC offering, saying it might complicate things for gamers new to the franchise. Whether that means expansions will follow in due course has yet to be established, with Mikey saying Koei would "see how it goes." "
For God sake... WHAT IS SO COMPLICATED to play this game hah ???
Beside mashing your button & timing your times, ITS ABSOLUTELY NOT COMPLICATED at all !
Even a 10 yrs old CAN PLAY this game PROPERLY !
Yeah, plz admit THAT YOUR PC DIVISION is soo NOOBZ that they need years & years JUST TO PORT the game TO PC VERSION without ANYTHING NEW ! (like Drivers 3 too)
Like Warriors Orochi for PC version that doesn't had ANY NEW FEAT for PC that make its better & most IMPORTANTLY, WORTHED than its console counterpart CONSIDERING THE PC VERSION ALWAYS CAME OUT SO VERY LATE (tYEARS) !!!
Then what the GOOD point for PC version then ?
Still u need to play with gamepad & INSTALLED it FIRST YET doesn't had any NEW FEAT that differentiate the PC version with its console !
If u can't ADD any NEW FEAT then... PLEASE FOR GOD SAKE, launched the game NOT TOO LONG after the CONSOLE & EVEN THE EXPANSION for console game HAD BEEN LAUNCHED too !
Maybe if the game CAME OUT with some NEW FEAT or new CHAR or NEW MOVIE, then its still WORTHED to replaying the game in PC !
But in the end... no new feat, no new char, no new weapon, no new stage, no new neat feat, no new story, JUST TOTALLY THE SAME GAME (even DW 4 Hyper LACK OF WEAPON CHOICES ! compared with PS2 version) with NEW PRICE !
Plus they should know that this type of game NEED SOME NEW FEAT to attract some people NOT JUST ITS HARDCORE fan (considering they release the game in PC show the Koei want to add new fans) !
And considering MANY OF ITS HARDCORE FANS had been played & finished the game IN CONSOLE... I am still VERY WONDER WHY Koei want to release the VERY SAME game in PC version after so many years eh ?
Just to gain some cash & test the PC game market ?

I am still hoping for either a complete remake or all Uncharted Waters. That game was and STILL is under rated open end game. If you have not played it do yourself a favor and play it. I know I still do :)
I'm looking for forward to the new Romance game, once again another under rated and often over looked gem of Koei's.

These aren't really my kinds of games.
However... It is good to see not only a Japanese company give PC a chance, but in genres not often found on PC these days.
Let the PC return to its 90s glory! No more flood of MMO, RTS, and FPS. Bring back the platformers, adventure games, fighting, etc.